The Social Security (Students Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987, the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 and the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

In particular, they make various amendments to the rules on the treatment of students in relation to those benefits by providing new or amended definitions of “course of study” (regulations 2(2)(a), 3(2)(a) and 4(2)(a)), “full-time student” (regulation 3(2)(b), (3)(a)), “period of study” (regulations 3(2)(d) and 4(3)), “standard maintenance grant” (regulations 2(2)(b), 3(3)(b) and 4(4)(b)) and “student” (regulations 2(2)(c) and 3(3)(c)).

They prescribe the period when full-time students are to be treated as attending or undertaking a full-time course of study by reference to modular courses (which are defined) and non-modular courses (regulations 2(3), 3(4) and 4(2)(b)). They also prescribe that full-time students, for the purposes of housing benefit or jobseeker’s allowance, are not, in certain circumstances, to be regarded as attending or undertaking a course in the period after ceasing caring responsibilities or after from recovering from an illness until they return to their course (regulations 2(4) and 4(2)(b)).

Regulations 3(2)(c) and (e) and (5) and 4(4)(a) and the Schedule make consequential amendments.

The Report of the Social Security Advisory Committee dated 8th May 1998 on the proposals referred to them in respect of the Social Security Amendment (Students) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1981), together with a statement showing the extent to which those Regulations give effect to the Recommendations of the Committee, and in so far as they do not give effect to them, the reasons why not, are contained in Command Paper Cm. 4739 published by The Stationery Office Limited.

In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulation 2, to be referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee under section 149(2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, (“the 1992 Act”), after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee, they have not been so referred by virtue of section 150(1)(b) of that Act. Otherwise they make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the 1992 Act, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

These Regulations do not impose any charge on business.